Post-Wedding Blues Are Real—Here's 5 Ways to Beat Them

There is so much that goes into planning a wedding. For months, couples are busy with events like engagement photoshoots, showers, vendor meetings, and wedding dress shopping; crafty tasks like designing save-the-dates and choosing wedding decor, and planning wedding-related events, like the post-wedding brunch or mini-moon.

So, once the big day is over—and, along with it, all the wedding planning busyness—many newlyweds find themselves dealing with a case of the post-wedding blues. After months of crossing off wedding checklist tasks and building excitement, the weeks after the wedding can feel a little empty—and can be seriously challenging to your mental health.

Don’t worry! If you’re feeling a little sad post-wedding, it’s important to recognize that you’re not alone; the post wedding blues are it’s super common. And luckily, there are ways to cheer yourself up, enjoy married life, and channel all that wedding-related time and energy into something new, exciting, and positive.

Why do couples experience the post-wedding blues?

For many, the process of planning a wedding can be a consuming process. The appointments, the phone calls, the fittings, the seating charts … it’s like all wedding, all the time—often for months at a time. Then, the big day comes and POOF! All of a sudden, this event that’s been occupying all of your time, energy, and headspace is over.

According to Ohio-based licensed professional counselor (and new bride) Sarah Thompson, that sudden transition can be jarring for many. “It may sound outlandish, but this is a loss—and what we are experiencing is grief,” she says.

There’s also a neurological component at play. For many couples, their wedding day is one of the happiest and most joyful of their life. “When we experience joy and happiness our bodies are producing serotonin, dopamine … [and] other endorphins,” Thompson says. “The problem is when our brain experiences an overabundance of these chemicals, it tells our body to stop producing them.”

So, essentially, after the wedding day surge, some will actually have a slowdown in the production of all those feel-good endorphins. This can lead to feelings of sadness or depression, AKA the post-wedding blues.

How To Beat The Post-Wedding Blues

Clearly, the post-wedding blues is a real phenomenon. So, you’ll have to put real energy into coming back from the emotional downfall.

1. Feel your feelings.

If you’re feeling sad after your “I do’s,” you might be tempted to push those sad feelings down and put on a happy face. (You did just get married, after all.) But if you really want to move past the post-wedding blues, that’s definitely not the way to do it.

Acknowledging that you’re feeling the blues in the first place is a good first step. “These feelings need to be acknowledged, felt, talked about, and worked through or they’ll find their way out in some way,” Thompson says.

Pretending you’re not sad isn’t actually going to make you feel better. In fact, it could make you feel worse. If you’re sad, allow yourself to feel sad. If you want to cry, give yourself space to cry. Feeling your feelings—even the unpleasant ones—is a must if you want to work through them.

2. Take care of yourself.

According to Thompson, self-care is one of the best antidotes to the post-wedding blues.

Carve out time to do the things that make you feel your best, whether that’s getting a monthly massage, kicking off your mornings with a yoga class, or scheduling a mani/pedi date with your BFF or partner. The more time and energy you invest in self-care, the better you’ll feel—and the better you’ll be able to fight those post-wedding blues.

If you’re not used to the concept of self-care, this is the perfect time to get on board. Not only will developing a self-care routine help you combat your post-wedding blues, but when you take good care of yourself, it allows you to better show up for the people in your life—including your new spouse. “We need to make time and make [ourselves] a priority. We aren’t our best selves for others when we do not participate in some sort of self-care routine,” Thompson says.

3. Enjoy your marriage.

With so much time and energy spent on the wedding, it can be easy to forget what’s really important in the long-term—and that’s your marriage.

Focus on the post-wedding excitement that comes with getting to be married to your partner. “The best way I have found to channel my time and energy [post-wedding] has been taking time to enjoy just being married,” Thompson says. “Going to dinner or the movies, taking a short trip somewhere, focusing just on the two of us.”

Your wedding was one of the best days of your life—but there are plenty more “best days” ahead in your marriage. So focus on enjoying them with your partner.

4. Plan fun events with your partner.

Wedding planning takes up so much time and energy—but knowing that you have your wedding to look forward to makes it all worth it.

But when your wedding is over, not only do you all of a sudden have all that free time and energy back, but you also don’t have your big day to look forward to anymore. It can feel like a bit of a let down.

Luckily, you can remedy that feeling by putting your time and energy into creating new things to look forward to with your partner—or, in other words, filling your calendar with fun events. For example, you and your partner might take turns planning bi-weekly date nights—or you might dedicate some time and effort to planning an anniversary trip to celebrate your first year of marriage.

The point is, you spent a lot of time planning and looking forward to your wedding—and if you want to beat the post-wedding blues, you should start planning and looking forward to other things with your spouse.

5. Take a break from social media.

Social media is a great place to share your wedding photos and preserve those memories for years to come. But if you’ve been spending hours every day scrolling through your wedding photos and feeling sad, it may be time to take a step back from your social media accounts.

Commit to taking a break from social media—or, if that’s unrealistic, limiting the time you spend looking at your wedding photos. Then, repurpose that time into something that makes you happy—whether that’s taking a daily walk with your partner or tackling a new hobby.

It doesn’t have to be forever, but while you’re experiencing the post-wedding blues, taking a step back from social media (and all the wedding photos that live there!) can be a great step in supporting your mental health.

Starting a new project? Proceed with caution.

If your instinct is to replace wedding planning with another major project (like launching a new business or getting a puppy), it could be a great way to channel your time and energy, but proceed with caution.

“Jumping into a new big project could be fine for some, and counter-productive for others,” Thompson says. “A new, exciting project could be a great way to … be excited about the future. When this could be counterproductive, though, is when it’s being used as a distraction to our feelings or a sole means to solve the problem [of post-wedding blues].”

So, if you’re making major life changes like buying a new home or looking for a new job because it’s something you truly want, it can be a great way to transition to your new post-wedding life. But if you’re doing it just because you need to build a new life to fill the void left by wedding planning or to avoid your feelings of post-wedding sadness? Not the best idea.

Still struggling? Ask for help.

The post-wedding blues is a completely normal experience that plenty of brides and grooms experience. If you find that you can’t shake your sadness—or it’s getting in the way of living your life and enjoying your marriage—make sure to reach out and ask for help.

“If these feelings just will not subside, it’s best not to ignore them—there could be something more going on,” Thompson says. “Talk to your physician or make an appointment with a local therapist.”